Winnipeg Knee Surgery to Be Streamed Live

Sisler High School students watch the live stream of surgery done at Pan Am Clinic in 2013. (WRHA)

A live surgery in Winnipeg today is being streamed to students across the globe.

Dr. Peter MacDonald will reconstruct a ligament in a patient’s left knee during a one-hour long procedure that will be streamed online from the Pan Am Clinic.

“There are cameras built into the operating room, which we use for teaching via TeleHealth,” MacDonald said. “The students relay questions to the surgical team, and to the patient as well. For example, they might ask about how long it takes to return to full strength after surgery, and how long the patient will be on crutches.”

The 29-year-old patient damaged the left anterior cruciate ligament one year ago. A camera scope inserted into the knee allows the students to see a partially torn meniscus before focusing on the ACL reconstruction.

“The technology allows us to take more than a thousand students into the operating room, and lets them interact with the surgeon and the patient while the operation is going on,” said Jamie Leduc, department head of the business and information technology department at Sisler High School.

Digital media students from Sisler will manage the video feed, and receive typed questions from students around the world which they will relay verbally to the surgical team at Pan Am Clinic.